§ Statement of Purpose

The View from 1776 presents a framework to understand present-day issues from the viewpoint of the colonists who fought for American independence in 1776 and wrote the Constitution in 1787. Knowing and preserving those understandings, what might be called the unwritten constitution of our nation, is vital to preserving constitutional government. Without them, the bare words of the Constitution are just a Rorschach ink-blot that politicians, educators, and judges can interpret to mean anything they wish.

"We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our constitution is made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." John Adams, to the Officers of the First Brigade, Third Division, Massachusetts Militia, October 11, 1798.

§ Books to Read

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Friday, November 02, 2007

Is the CIA PC?

Read Mark Riebling’s critical analysis on the City Journal website of Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner.

Mr. Riebling concludes his review with an provocative contrast between the CIA and the Pentagon intelligence branch. He writes:

[Author Tim Weiner] concludes that ?the Pentagon had crushed the CIA, just as it vowed to do sixty years before,? though he neglects to explain why the Pentagon?s intelligence value to policymakers has grown.

The simple answer: the Pentagon?s judgments about the world have generally proved sounder than the CIA?s…

Why have the soldiers so often got it right where the spooks have got it wrong? Fifty years ago, political scientist Samuel Huntington offered a clue. In The Soldier and the State, Huntington argued that America?s open society needed a professional military establishment, ?steeped in conservative realism.? Generals could not be liberals. To keep the peace, they must prepare for war. They must make the best case for the worst case. They must assume the ?irrationality, weakness, and evil in human nature.? Liberals were good at reform, Huntington thought, but not at national security. ?Magnificently varied and creative when limited to domestic issues,? he wrote (an assertion we might dispute today), ?liberalism faltered when applied to foreign policy and defense.?
The CIA has long been a liberal institution. ?There are two kinds of people I never met in the CIA,? quipped retired spy David Atlee Phillips. ?One was an assassin, and the other was a Republican.? On the day that the last of the 9/11 hijackers entered the United States, many of the CIA?s officers weren?t at their desks, because they were putting together a quilt to celebrate ?Diversity Awareness Day.?